Day: September 7, 2018

Managed Service Providers, or MSPs, have emerged as one of the most cost efficient full scale IT solution providers for Start-ups and SMEs. MSPs charge a minimal monthly development fee to manage the growing technological needs of businesses. The following are some of the advantages of businesses opting for A managed service provider:

Increased focus on core business and freed-up resources:

Both business owners as well as the internal IT team would narrow down their focus on core business areas such as product development or release of innovative apps/services. That is why routine maintenance and monitoring are often overlooked by the internal IT team which may prove costly later.

Often misconstrued as a ‘threat’ (really?) to any internal IT team, MSPs instead free up everyday tasks such as periodic server monitoring, network operations, desk duties and storage infrastructure.

Sharing of risks & responsibilities:

MSPs are entrusted with delivering and managing on contracted services; they report, measure, analyze and optimise operation, turning out to be an indisputable catalyst for accelerated growth. Not only do MSPs assume crucial roles, they mitigate risks, enhance process efficiency and transform work culture by bringing in innovative IT practises to internal processes and technologies.

Showcasing best practises, expertise and global tools and technologies:

MSPs have appreciable experience in a gamut of business areas and technological front. Relevancy is the key in today’s business and MSPs help enterprises achieve it easily and puts business on track with changing phases of technology, productivity demands and support. Never be left behind in this scuffle.

Execute key IT tasks without paying through the nose:

Most SME owners swear by proactive management: they lack the resources, budget, or sources for on-demand expertise with IT management. A MSP can give business owners the required IT resources including server support, cost-effective computer systems, remote control and monitoring of key network components such as firewalls and servers, disaster recovery, data backup, custom software solutions, network security, and technology planning and evaluation.

MSPs can bring down the entire IT support costs involved by up to 30% to 50%. Instead of getting bogged down by technology changes, business owners can bring back the focus on business growth. Therefore, the role of an MSP is becoming central in increasing their network’s performance and reliability.

Companies, enterprises, start-ups and the like have learnt how performance of packaged software products is, at times, off mark. Custom software products offer the flexibility required to tailor specific requirements of each enterprise. When diverse needs are met, the exclusiveness in fixing business issues up is a sure thing.

The following are some of the advantages when you look at customising your software than going for off-the-shelf solutions:

Personalization:

You may search as much as you want, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to software development and maintenance. This said there is no dearth of high-quality off-the-shelf software available in the market; however, the odds that it will satisfy your needs are quite bleak. Tailoring some integrated features of your ready-made software may bring some smiles, but not close enough for software built right from scratch with the business specifics in mind.

Custom software development is just the thing to manage all your day-to-day processes. Custom-built software, however, depending on your specifications, can be intuitive and interactive –this makes it a favourite among businesses, irrespective of the size.

Scalability:

Off-the-shelf software products that you go for today may not be scalable tomorrow as your business grows and new requirements emerge. Add to this on-job training and its cost involved, you’re in a spot of bother. When you work with a software development firm it can ensure that the software product is scalable, in line with your business growth; software maintenance is in safe hands in the long run. Remember it is important that software scalability and maintenance issues don’t come in the way of your enterprise’s growth.

Integration:

This is an important factor as you can’t be going for multiple software products for different needs. It makes a lot of sense to customise your software program then, so that multiple processes can be fit in without the need to maintain multiple processes, thereby reducing needless hassle and stress as a result.

When you develop your custom software various levels of user expertise can be accommodated and any changes in app usage or staffing can be met by integrating a few additional modules or required updates. In this way, customization is a lot easier when you give some direction to it.

Cost Effectiveness:

Custom software development, pricey as it may seem at times, will prove worth every penny spent in the long run. It doesn’t require changes now and then or enhancements later to accommodate unforeseen tech changes. What if you need to bring in more changes to it? It is likely you need to shell out more for it. Over and above, readymade software packages include added costs with licenses.

Support & Maintenance

Often, with off-the-shelf software products, you are at the receiving end as in the event of the software company shutting shop, they can no longer afford to offer full support and maintenance, and that is certainly not good news! This puts custom- built software at an advantage as support and maintenance is already part of the tech support plan that included the development phases of your application, and quick fixes to the problems usually encountered. Another important takeaway is greater level of security and marginal chances of compromise or intrusion, as the odds of hackers discovering vulnerability are quite slim compared to any off-the-shelf software.